Private Detective

When people talk about artists like Aretha Franklin, St. Vincent, Paul Brady and Sam Cooke, they tend to talk about these artists’ best known work, their…

The Farmers Federation Cooperative, an organization focused on sharing progressive farming methods and creating a thriving agricultural market in WNC, included music as an essential piece of its endeavors. Farmers Federation annual picnic gatherings held in many counties throughout Western North Carolina featured Appalachian music as a chief draw for attendees. The picnics featured a diverse range of music that drew from many traditions. As a result, the Farmers Federation became a stage for individual musicians and a larger influence on musical styles in the mountains of North Carolina.

Conversation with Ben Nichols, touching on everything from his band Lucero’s embrace of synthesizers to working with his brother on film projects, the different kind of melancholy and heartbreak that he knows now from being a family man, and a whole lot more including, of course, a good bit of Lucero’s music from their new album When You Found Me.

Fiddle music is a richly layered tapestry that runs through the core of Western North Carolina. The passing down of the traditions (or styles), and instruments is ever present. In 2020 North Carolina native and traditional musician, Jason Cade recorded his “Byard Ray Dozen Series.” A collection in tribute to the legendary Byard Ray of Madison County. The core of the story is the multigenerational journey of a Western North Carolina fiddle.

For those who adhere to the old adage that “If you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room,” you would likely feel comfortable being…

After a brief pause over the holidays, it is time to jump into the new year with a strong lineup of guest artists here at Southern Songs and Stories. On…

No survey of current bluegrass is accurate without mention of Darin and Brooke Aldridge. The husband and wife duo, whose first album came in 2008, are now…

Make no mistake, Kenny Roby has turned in one of the most emotional and raw records of 2020. But listening to his fifth solo album The Reservoir, it is…

It could be easy to lose sight of this, with all of the trials and tribulations we have endured in 2020, but Steep Canyon Rangers is having a banner year.…

In May of 1989, Doc Watson was 66 years old. He was known around the world, and had already cemented his legacy, but was nowhere near the end of his…